16 quotes
It tells you the truth. As for how to read it, you'll have to learn by yourself.
Northern Lights (1995)
In Lyra’s heart, revulsion struggled with compassion, and compassion won.
Northern Lights (1995)
Lyra and her dæmon moved through the darkening hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.
Northern Lights (1995)
You cannot change what you are, only what you do.
Northern Lights (1995)
“She is the goddess of the dead. She comes to you smiling and kindly, and you know it is time to die.”
Northern Lights (1995)
Human beings can’t see anything without wanting to destroy it, Lyra. That’s original sin.
Northern Lights (1995)
Being a practiced liar doesn't mean you have a powerful imagination. Many good liars have no imagination at all; it's that which gives their lies such wide-eyed conviction.
Northern Lights (1995)
“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.”
Northern Lights (1995)
“That’s the duty of the old,” said the Librarian, “to be anxious on behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.”
Northern Lights (1995)
How can I just go and sit in the library or somewhere and twiddle my thumbs, knowing what's going to happen? I don't intend to do that, I promise you.
Northern Lights (1995)
It's an alethiometer. It's one of only six that were ever made. Lyra, I urge you again: keep it private.
Northern Lights (1995)
Her dæmon's name was Pantalaimon, and he was currently in the form of a moth, a dark brown one so as not to show up in the darkness of the hall.
Northern Lights (1995)
“That is how it seems....But we can’t read the darkness, Mr. Scoresby. It is more than possible that I might be wrong.”
Northern Lights (1995)
Think of Adam and Eve like an imaginary number, like the square root of minus one: you can never see any concrete proof that it exists, but if you include it in your equations, you can calculate all manner of things that couldn’t be imagined without it.
Northern Lights (1995)
Lyra has a part to play in all this, and a major one. The irony is that she must do it all without realizing what she's doing. She can be helped, though, and if my plan with the Tokay had succeeded, she would have been safe for a little longer. I would have liked to spare her a journey to the North.
Northern Lights (1995)
"But suppose your dæmon settles in a shape you don't like?"
"Well, then, you're discontented, en't you? There's plenty of fold as'd like to have a lion as a dæmon and they end up with a poodle. And till they learn to be satisfied with what they are, they're going to be fretful about it. Waste of feeling, that is."
Northern Lights (1995)